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PM covers a broad spectrum of issues relevant to all sections of Australia's geographically and culturally diverse community. It looks behind political, economic, industrial, business, social, cultural, rural, regional and arts stories. Below is the program summary with links to transcripts and audio (if available).

Whaling protesters remain captive in Southern Ocean

Two protesters from the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd are still being held on a Japanese whaling vessel. The captain of the Japanese ship has reportedly attached conditions to their release, which Sea Shepherd says it will not accept.

Haneef's visa battle comes to an end

The battle over the visa for the former terrorism suspect, Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef is over. He's now again free to work in Australia. The Federal Government has announced it won't appeal to the High Court against the Federal Court's decision to re-instate his visa. The Court last year dismissed the former Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews' appeal against the reinstatement. Doctor Haneef is understood to have been told the news, and is weighing up his future.

Local market slides despite healthy data

It's been another day of big losses on the Australian sharemarket - the eighth in a row. And it follows a slide on Wall Street that was led by the announcement of an $11-billion loss by the banking giant, Citigroup. It's prompting many people to wonder how much longer Australia can weather the economic storm clouds from the US.

Economic fears dominate US primary campaign

A growing fear that the United States is heading towards a recession is starting to play a more prominent role in the race for the White House. The struggling economy is seen as one reason behind today's win by Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary in Michigan. Mr Romney won 39 per cent of the vote, ahead of Senator John McCain. Meanwhile the Democratic candidates have been debating their credentials for handling the housing and credit crisis, as one of America's biggest banks posted its largest loss.

New MPs finding their feet in parliament

The Labor landslide at last year's federal election means that when the Parliament sits for the first time next month, there'll be a lot of new MPs trying to find their way around. Today and tomorrow, there's an official orientation seminar for the 42 new Members of the Parliament. That's about twice the number of new MPs installed at the last federal election. With them, the face of the Parliament will change: 11 of the new MPs are women and 12 are younger than 40.